Dallas Stars Blog

Stardate: Nov. 12, 2009 – And the winner is … Stephane Robidas

The first in a series of Stars games and moments that happened on a specific date.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Stephane Robidas was surprised when Dallas coach Marc Crawford called his name for the shootout. The defenseman had never attempted a penalty shot during the regular season.

Stephane Robidas (3) of the Dallas Stars takes a shot on Evengi Nabokov (20) of the San Jose Sharks during an NHL game on November 12, 2009 at HP Pavilion at San Jose in San Jose, California.

“When you look at all the forwards we have, and all the skills, it was pretty surprising,” Robidas said. “I scored in a preseason game last year and once in junior hockey but I wasn’t comfortable making a move so I just shot it.”

Robidas scored the only shootout goal — in the third round — to give the Stars a 3-2 comeback victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.

James Neal and Mike Modano tied it with goals in a 1:45 span of the third period after Dany Heatley and Ryane Clowe scored in a 2:11 span in the second period to give the Sharks a 2-0 edge. Neal scored his 10th goal of the season, and Modano, who missed 13 games because of a rib injury, tied it with his first of the season.

“We’ve been pretty good going into the third period,” Clowe said. “They got the flukey goal on the first one and they played well.”

Modano scored for the first time in 22 games, scoring against the Sharks in San Jose last season. He has 72 points against the Sharks.

“It was a real entertaining hockey game for everybody,” Crawford said. “I thought the overtime was very exciting. Both teams had a couple of chances.”

Marty Turco made 30 stops for the Stars, who gained a point for the first time in three road games. Evgeni Nabokov had 34 saves for the Sharks, who recorded a point in their 10th straight game. San Jose is 6-0-2 at home.

“To grind out a win is absolutely huge,” said Turco, who has 22 wins against the Sharks — his most against any team. “We threw everything we had at them and there are a lot of things to be content about.”

Neal, who missed the last two games because of a groin injury, recorded points in his eighth straight game. His goal hit off Sharks defender Jason Demers’ skates and floated over Nabokov’s left shoulder and into the net.

“I was staying off to the side and you couldn’t get an unluckier bounce,” Demers said. “Things were rolling for us and we have to finish.”

Modano’s goal came as a result of Neal fanning on a shot. The puck floated back to Modano, who fired it past Nabokov. It was his 24th goal against San Jose and the 544th of his career, good for a 27th-place tie with Maurice Richard on the career list.

“This had a playoff type atmosphere,” Demers said. “There was a lot of hitting and a lot of skating. It was a good effort form both teams.”

The Sharks beat Dallas in five of their six meetings last season.
The Stars killed off three power plays against the NHL’s best power-play team at home. Dallas has killed off 11 straight power plays.